***SWAMPY SUNDAY - MUCK 5 - WEEK 5***

***CHICAGO BEARS @ INDIANAPOLIS COLTS***

The Colts are in the strangest position as before the season, they opted out of the usual bye week that follows after a team takes trip to play overseas in London and chose to get right back in the swing instead. Why did they choose to do this? I have no idea other than wanting to have a bye week later in the season. This puts them at a clear disadvantage as they have had to travel a great deal in the past two weeks and have to get ready to host the Chicago Bears. Luckily for them, it is indeed the Chicago Bears they are hosting this week and I think it is a prime matchup for the Colts to get a big win at home. Despite the Bears getting their first win of the season last week at home against a division opponent in the Lions, they are absolutely decimated with injuries and fell victim to a few more during that victory. They lost their prized WR Kevin White for the season which is a shame since after missing his entire Rookie campaign to an injury, was starting to look promising in the offense. Not to mention they still are rolling with backup QB Brian Hoyer. Arguably Hoyer is an upgrade from former starter Jay Cutler and there is evidence of that with the big win last week to get off the schneid at home where they haven't especially won a game in a very long time dating back to last season. Needless to say the Bears are feeling good but I believe the win came as more of a collapse of their opponent as Detroit is also in shambles on defense and have some miscommunication issues on offense. The Bears did play well however and I won't take that away from them but I just feel as if they will head into Indy to take on a pissed off Colts team who are under similar pressure that Chicago was the week prior after getting abused and embarrassed in London by a fellow AFC South opponent in the Jaguars. Now it is no secret that the Colts defense is no stud either but they are quietly getting healthier and getting some pieces back like CB Vontae Davis who can help sure up the leaky coverage. Bears WRs Alshon Jefferey, Eddie Royal, and TE Zach Miller are also on the injury report and questionable for the game. It's almost as if the entire Bears team is on the injury report so it is tough to say who will play and who won't but my point is that the Bears will be now limited on offense as well as defense due to injuries and I see them having a tough time keeping up with the Colts on the scoreboard. Indy was in a bad spot last week as London is now like a second home to the Jags and the Swamp was on them for a nice breakfast win last week because of it. That being said, I don't think the Colts are as bad as they looked out there and will be looking forward to taking advantage of a banged up Chicago defense to put up some big points in this game to get a feel good win at home. QB Andrew Luck is due to go off and I think this is a prime spot for him to do just that. COLTS-4.5

***TENNESEE TITANS @ MIAMI DOLPHINS***

Ugly game here as we have two 1-3 teams facing off when the Titans travel into Miami to take on the Dolphins. However in my eyes, these are two teams trending in different directions. On one hand we have a young Titans squad who have been in every game and have been in position to win and fallen short in 3 of the 4. The Dolphins on the other hand seem like a mess from head to toe. I question whether or not the team is behind new Head Coach Adam Gase and while some may look at this as a spot to get that confidence boosting win at home against an opponent closer to their level, I am not sure they are ready to capitalize on that opportunity. In the words of my man Forrest Gump; QB Ryan Tannehill is a box of chocolates man, you never know what you're gonna get. The guy shows flashes at times of being a pretty good NFL QB, but I feel like most of the time, he just looks like a gifted athlete trying to play QB if that makes any sense. Not a true QB in my opinion. I know that was one of the reasons Gase was brought there since he is supposed to be some sort of QB whisperer but he might have to start yelling instead of whispering because Tannehill still isn't there yet. The Titans defense is lowkey pretty damn good and I don't see Tanny having too much success against them. The fact that their running game is a mess as well definitely doesn't help him either. Who the hell is their RB? They supposedly have veteran Arian Foster coming back from injury but who knows with that guy if he will be able to play and after him it is a couple of young average backs all competing against eachother for the job which surely makes them all try and do the most when they're in the game and that kind of pressure can backfire. The Dolphins defense still hasn't shown that they can stop the run game either, and that is Tennessee's bread & butter. The Titans have a combination of thunder & thunder in the backfield with Murray and Rookie Henry who I think will get more touches in this game and have a big day. He has been quiet behind Murray thus far and understandably since Murray has been awesome in his debut season with the Titans. I feel like they will mix it up more in this game and this should help open up the passing game for the struggling QB Marcus Mariota. Like Tannehill, Mariota has been a bit of a box of chocolates himself so far this season and I believe he is a smart and talented enough kid to learn from his mistakes. He has some weapons at WR who are waiting to bust out in a big way like Rookie Tajae Sharpe and former Dolphin Rishard Matthews who I bet wants to have a huge day against his old team. I see this Titan offense clicking and having success on both the ground and through the air against the Miami who still has so many moving pieces. I'm not sure what the weather will be like in this game with the big Hurricane roaming but as of now it looks to be pretty clear for gametime, if it does get a bit wet however I again give the edge to the Titan running game in this one. Too much confusion going on in South Beach at the moment and the Titans are really close to putting it all together. TITANS+3

***WASHINGTON REDSKINS @ BALTIMORE RAVENS***

The Ravens were off to a stellar start this season winning their first 3 games before losing to the Raiders at home last weekend in the final moments of the game. They now will welcome the Redskins into Baltimore who have quickly turned their season around winning their last two games after dropping the first two. I like the Black Birds to defend homefield and out-tough the Skins to bounce back in what should be a hard-nosed battle. The Skins will again be without CB Breeland and now as well as Safety Bruton and a big loss in LB/S Su'a Cravens who has been a great piece to their defense so far this year. LB Ryan Kerrigan is also questionable and if he can't go in this game it will be a huge hit to the defensive front. They will surely miss Cravens big time as he has been one of their defensive playmakers this season and I like Ravens QB Joe Flacco to take advantage in this game. Flacco and the Ravens WR core are starting to click. WR Steve Smith is as reliable as he has always been, Mike Wallace has proven to be a big time addition this offseason and one of Flacco's favorite deep targets, and the youngster Breshad Perriman has come on strong in his official Rookie season after missing all of last year due to injury. TE Dennis Pitta is also back this season so Flacco finally has a full arsenal to work with once again and this offense is looking like the Ravens of old after an off year last season. They're also set to debut rookie RB Kenneth Dixon although he is said to be limited but has the potential to take over as the team's primary RB. The Baltimore defense has been pretty solid led by the veteran and captain LB Terrell Suggs and I like Suggs and the boys to get after the mistake prone Redskin QB Kirk Cousins in this one. The Redskin offense is still trying to figure itself out and can get a little too pass happy at times where Cousins can often make the costly turnover and I believe that will be the difference here. In a nutshell, I anticipate the Raven defense to clamp down at home and get a big win. RAVENS-4

***ATLANTA FALCONS @ DENVER BRONCOS***

The Broncos are currently undefeated thanks to arguably the best defense in the league next to Minnesota, and I have been waiting for a game where I think they can get exploited and all that changes. The Falcons offense is red hot right now, mixing up the pass and run game perfectly and this team is playing with a high confidence because of it. Since dropping their first game of the season against the Bucs, Atlanta has rattled off three consecutive wins but none more impressive than last weeks where they defeated their divisional big brother the Carolina Panthers in convincing fashion. QB Matt Ryan and WR Julio Jones had an historic day to say the least as they took advantage of the Panthers weakness at CB and completely abused them. The week prior to that, it was the run game that ate up the Saints on the road in New Orleans on the Prime Time stage of MNF. Needless to say there are a lot of bases to cover in preparation for a defense and I believe the Falcons have the recipe to find success against the dreaded defense of mighty Super Bowl Champ Broncos. This game is in Denver which surely gives the Broncos an edge but Atlanta has shown me that they can go on the road in an hostile environment and produce. Matt Ryan seems to be resurrected a bit and Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan has his QB humming by distributing the ball all over the place. In the past, it was really only Julio Jones defenses were worried about, but with the addition of WR Mohammad Sanu and TE Jacob Tamme and the RB duo of Freeman & Coleman as threats to catch passes out of the backfield, defenses now have a lot more to account for. The absence of DE/LB DeMarcus Ware is a big one as it allows an offense to soley focus on DE/LB Von Miller. Now we all know this man cannot be stopped, but it definitely helps when you can gameplan to smother him with blocks and not have to worry about Ware coming off the other end. On the other side of the girdiron the Broncos will be starting Rookie Paxton Lynch at QB for the first time. This is a huge game for a Rookie to be making his debut in and while I am high on Lynch and think he will be a good pro QB, I don't like him to come through in this spot. I feel like the stage may be too big for him in this game and after Atlanta scores and the pressure is on him he will make a costly mistake or two. I like the Falcons to upset here and serve the Champs their first loss of the season. FALCONS+3.5

***SAN DIEGO CHARGERS @ OAKLAND RAIDERS***

I cannot remember a time where I have seen a team suffer so many key injuries so quickly to start a season than the Chargers unfortunately have had so far this year. I mean who is next? RB Melvin Gordon? QB Philip Rivers? The amount of injuries they are dealing with is absurd. They have lost; WR Keenan Allen, RBs Danny Woodhead & Branden Oliver, TE Antonio Gates, LBs Manti Teo & Denzel Perryman, and now CBs Justin Verrett, Brandon Flowers, & Safety Jahleel Addae, among a few injuries on the offensive line! WOW. Gates may be a go tomorrow but Rookie TE Hunter Henry has really filled in nicely in his spot. I can see the Chargers using both of these TEs in the passing game at the same time similar to how they used to use Ladarius Green along with Gates. As far as the others, they are either out for the season or at least out for tomorrow as far as I know and that is too much for a team to take as they go on the road to the Black Hole to take on a surging division rival in the Oakland Raiders. The loss of Verrett is a true shame as he is quietly one of the NFL's best CBs and it is especially huge in a matchup like this as QB Derek Carr has been a beast in the passing game with WRs Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper. I just don't see the Chargers being able to slow down the potent passing game of Oakland and I doubt the Raiders will have any mercy for them at home either. I see this as a game where the Raiders smell blood and completely take advantage. The Chargers are in for a long day on both sides of the ball as the Raider defense is talented and getting better. They should feed off of the energy of the crowd and success of their offense, forcing the Chargers to try and keep up on the scoreboard and allowing them to pin their ears back and rush Rivers. I see Raider LB Khalil Mack having a HUGE game here and being Rivers worst nightmare getting to him early and often and most likely causing a turnover or two. The Chargers have a big lookahead game on deck to top it off as they will host the Broncos on Thursday Night Football. That being said the Bolts have blown all but one game this year in horrible fashion, which I got to believe along with the big injuries has crushed this team's morale and their confidence is at an all time low. One bright spot is that their first round pick DE Joey Bosa is apparently finally making his NFL debut but I don't believe will be enough of a factor to change anything here. Bloodbath on deck as the Carr & Co. should roll in this one.

RAIDERS-3.5